1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to sensor systems and, more specifically, to systems and methods for displaying sensor data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In some sensor and graphical applications, it is desirable to translate data from a two-dimensional, rectangular array into a wedge-shaped graphic. For example, in many sensor applications, sensors are arranged as to monitor a wedge of space. Each individual sensor can be conceptualized as scanning a smaller wedge-spaced beam in the wedge of space to produce a measurement at each of a plurality of radial distances. The measurements for each beam, as taken, represent a single vector of data. The combined measurements for the plurality of beams can be conceptualized as a rectangular array.
In most sensing applications, it is desirable to provide data to a user in a manner that reflects the geography that is being sensed. While a user may be able to puzzle out the meaning of a rectangular display of data given time, displaying the sensor data as a wedge allows the user to quickly understand the importance of the sensed data. It will be appreciated that it is desirable to perform the translation efficiently, however, to avoid excessive computational expense while providing the user with a real-time display of the sensed wedge of space.